Earlier this week, Scott wrote a blog post (The Art of the CMEpalooza Abstract) in which he made multiple references to characters (The Fonz and, of course, Potsie) from the hit TV show Happy Days, which first aired…

[Hold on, I’m calculating]

[Still calculating]

…FIFTY YEARS AGO! Once again, we have our finger firmly on the modern culture pulse of the hoi polloi.

(SIDE NOTE: I asked my 17-year-old daughter if she had ever heard of Happy Days or The Fonz. I got an eyeroll worthy of Mr. C.)

One of the things that Happy Days is known for (in addition to providing the origin for the saying “jump the shark” when a water-skiing Fonz literally jumped a shark while wearing his signature leather jacket. The ’80s were wild, man.)

is their crossover episodes with other popular shows, many of which got their start on Happy Days. Laverne and Shirley from (duh) Laverne & Shirley made numerous appearances on Happy Days, and vice versa. Who can ever forget the L&S episode where Richie and Potsie from Happy Days made a guest appearance to participate in a dance competition? (SPOILER ALERT: hilarity ensued.)

My personal favorite crossover episodes were when Robin Williams’s Mork from (duh) Mork & Mindy would make a surprise appearance with the Happy Days gang down at Arnold’s (SPOILER ALERT: hilarity ensued). Check out these special effects:

The ’70s were wild, man.

We are hard at work finalizing the agenda for CMEpalooza Spring 2024 and hope to be able to release it by the end of next week. Meanwhile, in the spirit of crossovers and cross promotions, there are two upcoming educational events for CME/CE professionals that we thought may be of interest to the CMEpalooza community. Here are the details:

ACCME Learn to Thrive 2024
The ACCME invites the accredited continuing education (CE) community to come together in Chicago for three days of meaningful discussion, collaborative learning opportunities, and connection with peers at Learn to Thrive 2024, ACCME’s annual meeting, taking place on May 14-16, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Chicago. At Learn to Thrive 2024, you’ll have opportunities to discover actionable strategies that will optimize your role in helping clinicians deliver quality patient care.

Check out www.accmemeeting.org for more information – including what to expect, frequently asked questions, and the meeting agenda – or to register.

Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) 2024 Annual Meeting
The Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) invites you to its 2024 Annual Meeting, March 10-13 in San Diego, California.  The theme for this year’s conference is “Exploring the Expanding and Evolving CPD Ecosystem.”

The meeting will address the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI); how CPD/CE can impact the climate crisis; the influence of power and privilege on academic medicine; and best practices for organizations and learners to address complex care needs in under-resourced settings, including migrant, refugee, and displaced communities.

Through research and best practices sessions, CPD/CE colleagues will present innovative strategies they have developed, including interprofessional and team-based education, working in the evolving CPD/CE environment using data driven CPD, and incorporating quality improvement and patient safety.

The meeting will feature the following:

• In-person pre-conference meeting workshops (included in the registration fee)
• Keynote speakers and panels
• Interactive sessions
• Short research and best practices presentations and posters
• Networking opportunities
• Social engagement in-person and virtually

Check out the speakers and the program and register today! Visit sacme.org/page-1859750 for more information.

Over the always-frenetic President’s Day weekend (my Martin Van Buren costume slayed – sadly, no photos), Derek and I spent hours poring over the abstracts that were submitted for CMEpalooza Spring. I remember the first year we piloted the abstract submission process, we were simply crossing our fingers that we would get enough people sending in proposals so that we could fill out the agenda. I think there was actually one year early on where we had to supplement the submissions with a few ideas of our own.

These days, as we’ve continued to build our footprint in our little community, it’s not quite so nerve-wracking. That doesn’t mean I don’t get the annual panicked “Why do we only have five submissions? It’s the day before the submission deadline!” text message from Derek. I usually ignore him until, about 12 hours later, the next text comes in. “Oh, I guess people were waiting until the last day to submit something. They are coming in now.”

Every. Single. Time.

After another year of weighing the merits of submitted proposals, I’d love to tell you that there is a magic formula to winning our hearts. Sadly, the one absolute, stone-cold lock format — a CMEpalooza musical — once again was not mentioned in a single one of the abstracts that were submitted for the Spring 2024 meeting. That means that you will likely again get a plea from Derek next year for anyone willing to be bold enough to show off their pipes. But other than that, as I review the abstracts that were selected for inclusion in our Spring agenda, there are few consistent patterns to be found.

Some approved session descriptions were very long. We’re talking 500+ words. Some were very short. We’re talking less than 100 words.

Some had fully fleshed out titles, panelists, and topics. Some were more vague — “I’ll figure out who else to invite eventually.”

Some were rifts on popular shows or movies, although “I want to do a session where I dress up as Fonzie and recite the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Ayyyyy!” was not selected this year. Some went the more traditional rapid fire roundtable route.

There were some topics that were repeated in multiple selections. This is one of the trickier areas since we have a limited agenda. While we know that we may want to include something on a specific “hot topic,” we will usually only pick one session to avoid redundancy. This year, it was artificial intelligence and its role in accredited education, which you will certainly hear about in our Spring event. In previous years, it was quality improvement or social media or “why I have the best/worst boss in the world.”

Neither Derek nor I like saying “no” to anyone who takes the time to submit an abstract for CMEpalooza Spring (note from Derek: I hate it.) And often, we will take ideas from rejected abstracts and circle back around in the Fall in some capacity to either cover a similar topics or pull parties from specific proposals into other sessions. So if you got a “Sorry, but no” email from us, it’s not necessarily the end. It may just be that we’re holding onto your topic for a later event.

It’ll be a week or so until we get the formal agenda up on our website for the whole world to see, but I think that everyone will be excited about the topics and formats we have in store. If the abstracts we approved are any indication, this is going to be a lot of fun. Right, Potsie?

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Submit your abstract
For CMEpaloo…(za)

Roses are red
Violets are white
Abstracts are due
By 9:00 tonight

Roses are red
Violets are brown
If you miss the deadline
You’ll be wearing a frown

Roses are red
Violets are clear
Need more info?
You’ll find it all here

Roses are red
Violets are pink
To submit your idea
Click on this link

Roses are red
Violets are lime
Scott might punch me
If I make one more rhyme

This is it, your last chance to submit an abstract to present at CMEpalooza Spring. We absolutely, positively, definitely, 100% guaranteed, without a doubt, probably will not accept any abstract submitted after 9 pm ET tonight (I underlined and bolded “tonight” so you know I’m serious.)

Click here to submit your abstract for CMEpalooza Spring